Articles | Volume 15, issue 8
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-3555-2021
© Author(s) 2021. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-3555-2021
© Author(s) 2021. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| Highlight paper
| 
03 Aug 2021
Research article | Highlight paper |
| 03 Aug 2021
| 03 Aug 2021
Recent degradation of interior Alaska permafrost mapped with ground surveys, geophysics, deep drilling, and repeat airborne lidar
Thomas A. Douglas
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
U.S. Army Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory, 9th
Avenue, Building 4070, Fort Wainwright, AK 99709, USA
Christopher A. Hiemstra
U.S. Army Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory, 9th
Avenue, Building 4070, Fort Wainwright, AK 99709, USA
now at: US Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Geospatial Management
Office, Salt Lake City, UT 84138, USA
John E. Anderson
U.S. Army Geospatial Research Laboratory, Corbin Field Station 15315 Magnetic Lane, Woodford, VA 22580, USA
Robyn A. Barbato
U.S. Army Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory, 72 Lyme
Road, Hanover, NH 03755, USA
Kevin L. Bjella
U.S. Army Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory, 9th
Avenue, Building 4070, Fort Wainwright, AK 99709, USA
Elias J. Deeb
U.S. Army Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory, 72 Lyme
Road, Hanover, NH 03755, USA
Arthur B. Gelvin
U.S. Army Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory, 9th
Avenue, Building 4070, Fort Wainwright, AK 99709, USA
Patricia E. Nelsen
U.S. Army Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory, 9th
Avenue, Building 4070, Fort Wainwright, AK 99709, USA
Stephen D. Newman
U.S. Army Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory, 72 Lyme
Road, Hanover, NH 03755, USA
Stephanie P. Saari
U.S. Army Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory, 9th
Avenue, Building 4070, Fort Wainwright, AK 99709, USA
Anna M. Wagner
U.S. Army Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory, 9th
Avenue, Building 4070, Fort Wainwright, AK 99709, USA
Related authors
Michael M. Loranty, Benjamin W. Abbott, Daan Blok, Thomas A. Douglas, Howard E. Epstein, Bruce C. Forbes, Benjamin M. Jones, Alexander L. Kholodov, Heather Kropp, Avni Malhotra, Steven D. Mamet, Isla H. Myers-Smith, Susan M. Natali, Jonathan A. O'Donnell, Gareth K. Phoenix, Adrian V. Rocha, Oliver Sonnentag, Ken D. Tape, and Donald A. Walker
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Vegetation and soils strongly influence ground temperature in permafrost ecosystems across the Arctic and sub-Arctic. These effects will cause differences rates of permafrost thaw related to the distribution of tundra and boreal forests. As the distribution of forests and tundra change, the effects of climate change on permafrost will also change. We review the ecosystem processes that will influence permafrost thaw and outline how they will feed back to climate warming.
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Vegetation and soils strongly influence ground temperature in permafrost ecosystems across the Arctic and sub-Arctic. These effects will cause differences rates of permafrost thaw related to the distribution of tundra and boreal forests. As the distribution of forests and tundra change, the effects of climate change on permafrost will also change. We review the ecosystem processes that will influence permafrost thaw and outline how they will feed back to climate warming.
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In the semi-arid to arid Andes of Argentina, rock glaciers contain invisible and unknown amounts of ground ice that could become more important in future for the water availability during the dry season. The study shows that the investigated rock glacier represents an important long-term ice reservoir in the dry mountain catchment and that interannual changes of ground ice can store and release significant amounts of annual precipitation.
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Short summary
Permafrost is actively degrading across high latitudes due to climate warming. We combined thousands of end-of-summer active layer measurements, permafrost temperatures, geophysical surveys, deep borehole drilling, and repeat airborne lidar to quantify permafrost warming and thawing at sites across central Alaska. We calculate the mass of permafrost soil carbon potentially exposed to thaw over the past 7 years (0.44 Pg) is similar to the yearly carbon dioxide emissions of Australia.
Permafrost is actively degrading across high latitudes due to climate warming. We combined...
